Blanket bog forms a 400 000 hectare (990 000 acre) shroud covering much of this area. It may not sound glamorous, but it is one of Scotland's most important habitats.
A close-up view reveals a range of colourful sphagnum mosses. These serve as the bogs' main building blocks. The living surface hides layers of dead sphagnum that slowly accumulates into peat, where plants such as heather and bog cotton take root. The peatlands are the breeding ground for a spectacular mix of birds.
Red- and black-throated divers nest here, as do short-eared owls, golden eagles, peregrines, merlin, hen harriers, wildfowl and waders. Stand back, and the bog stretches into the distance in an open landscape enriched by sparkling lochans and isolated mountains like Ben Hope.
This is a wild place, with few signs of human presence, perhaps best appreciated from the lonely railway line that snakes its way north to Thurso and Wick. In dramatic contrast, stunning beaches and towering cliffs line the coastline of Caithness and Sutherland. Crofting communities have grown up alongside the coast, often around natural harbours.
This is where most of the human population lives, while the cliffs north of Helmsdale support big seabird colonies. Primula scotica, the tiny Scottish primrose that grows only in these far-northern corners of the UK, can be spotted by the sharp-eyed along the gale lashed northern coast.
The final features of a remarkable landscape are the straths that push from the sea into the interior world of the peatlands. From Neolithic times through to the population clearances of the 17th and 18th centuries, human settlements have left their mark on the gently rounded valleys. These are home today to crofts, hill farms and large sporting estates. Many of the straths contain areas of native woodland that are the last remnants of this once widespread habitat.
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